MAJOR investment plans are in the pipeline for Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin.

The head of Ford's Premier Automotive Division Dr Wolfgang Reitzle made the announcement about the three companies, all major employers in Coventry and at Gaydon in Warwickshire.

"We have growth plans for all three marques. They all have very important programmes ahead of them," he said.

Dr Reitzle, who was speaking at the opening of the X-Type production line at Halewood, gave few details about the future investment but confirmed there was room for expansion at all three Jaguar plants - Halewood, Castle Bromwich and Browns Lane in Coventry.

He also confirmed that the new F-Type, an expensive roadster to rival Porsche's Boxster, would definitely be built in Britain, although a decision on which UK plant had yet to be made.

A maximum 20,000 F-Types a year would be built from 2004.

Dr Reitzle said that, with the #300 million investment in X-Type production at Halewood, the company had taken a brownfield site and made it world-class.

"There is no reason why luxury cars have to be made in Germany any more," said Dr Reitzle, who was previously a director of BMW.

He also said that, despite the massive level of investment in new product and facilities to double production at Jaguar, the company was still operating profitably.

* Pictured are workers on the Halewood production line for the Jaguar X-Type.